Commercial, corporate and M&A

Linklaters

Linklaters‘ corporate offering provides ’excellent legal analysis, transactional drive, and top-notch negotiation support’ to its clients, which range from large corporates and financial institutions to private equity funds. The financial services sector is a particular area of strength for the team, which also offers infrastructure, energy, life sciences, and healthcare expertise. Arnaud Coibion, practice head, specialises in private and public M&A, joint ventures, and corporate law, and also boasts experience in equity offerings. Filip Lecoutre‘s transactional practice covers all types of entries into, and exits from, investments, while An-Sofie Van Hootegem ’is a true deal-maker’ with notable private equity experience, which is also an area of expertise for Evita Bassot.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘Great team, able to translate technical matters into language that is easy to understand.'
‘An-Sofie Van Hootegem is a true deal-maker.'
‘Not only very knowledgeable, but very good at explaining the detailed issues to the less expert client. Makes the client feel supported and able to give its full trust to the team in order to obtain the best possible legal position.’
‘An-Sofie Van Hootegem is very knowledgeable and efficient. She spots immediately the points to report on in more detail or on which to draw the attention of the client. She quickly understands the relevant aspects of the business and makes sure to gather the necessary input before taking a formal position.'
‘This team provides a unique combination of excellent legal analysis, transactional drive, and top-notch negotiation support.’
‘Eric Pottier's vast transactional experience and legal knowledge make him an outstanding leader for this team. The team ensures that a seamless and high-quality service is provided throughout the transaction with timely and proactive involvement of the senior lawyers of the team.’
‘The team is clearly very knowledgeable about M&A in general. In a difficult transaction with many moving parts, they were able to continuously adapt the transaction structure during negotiations until we were able to come to a transaction.’
‘Filip Lecoutre is very composed and knowledgeable. A pleasure to work with.’

Key clients

Solvay
Virya Energy
Proximus
Orange
Euronav
bpost
Indosuez Wealth Management
Euroclear
Sibelco
Sofina
4 Healthy Pets
Hg Capital
Lesaffre et Compagnie
Dajia Insurance Group

Work highlights

Assisted CA Indosuez, a subsidiary of French international banking group Crédit Agricole Group, with the private acquisition of a majority stake in Banque Degroof Petercam.
Advised bpost, Belgium’s leading postal operator and parcel and omni-commerce logistics partner, on its contemplated EUR1.3bn strategic acquisition of the Staci group from Ardian and other minority shareholders.
Advised Euronav, a dually listed shipping company on Euronext Brussels and the New York Stock Exchange, on acquiring all shares in CMB.TECH from its controlling shareholder CMB for USD1.150bn.